


divinity of flight

by monoceros (ikugin)



Series: to have faith is to have wings [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Jeon Wonwoo & Wen Jun Hui | Jun Are Best Friends, M/M, Minor Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Swearing, bts is referenced, figure skating AU, junhui has two braincells and all of it is because of wonwoo, junhui is a figure skater, junhui is reckless, meanie has history, minghao is a hockey player, platonic wonhui, seokmin and seungkwan fool around, some classical music references, there's a mystery skater that junhui likes but doesn't who he is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 08:23:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15626670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikugin/pseuds/monoceros
Summary: Junhui sees some random stranger skating at the rink one night during his feverish headache and can't stop thinking about it. He meets Minghao the next day and realises his life is fucked.Alternatively,Junhui is China's top figure skater. Minghao is the new member of the hockey team at Pledis Ice Skating and Hockey Association. Seungcheol asks Junhui to help Minghao out with being more comfortable in the foreign land of South Korea, and Junhui sets himself to help Minghao find comfort in the unknown, and possibly home.





	divinity of flight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oceanbed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceanbed/gifts).



> hello! this is my first seventeen fic so please treat me well!!  
> i've been a china line stan through and through so I thought i might as well write something for them because i love them so much  
> this au was given to me by one of my favourite twitter mutuals (@isskyeokay) at the beginning of the year, so im sorry for being later than usual SFKJAF  
> disclaimer:  
> i'm not responsible if anyone of you cries because of this fic.  
> also, don't worry about mingyu.
> 
> enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junhui sees someone skating at the rink and is completely floored.

Junhui has been having a very persistent memory recently.

_It was nearly midnight, and Junhui was cleaning up after a long day of practice. His legs were complaining and groaning at how he had extensively used them during practice as he did many different leg-stretching jumps and spins that day because his coach said that his spins needed more work, and some of his jumps were a little sloppy. He knew his coach would not stand for anything less than perfect. His head was definitely not helping at all, because it was screaming at him like a spoiled toddler throwing a tantrum. He held his heavy head with one of his hands and his face automatically scrunched up into a frown. He felt the impending doom of a migraine slowly creeping up onto him, and the dizzy spell slowly began._

_He hastily grabbed his things from the locker room. He was at the end of the hallway, just about to leave when he heard the faint sound of music coming from the rink._

_Who could be practising at this hour? Junhui thought, with a raised eyebrow in worry, it’s nearly midnight and the rink closes up in about fifteen minutes._

_After being persuaded by his curiosity, he went back to take a look. There was someone skating in the rink-- a young man that could not have been older than twenty with a tall stature. Normally, Junhui could remember people’s appearances with great detail, which sometimes freaked out his friends when he could remember a random stranger off the street, but for some bizarre reason, that was the only thing he could remember about the mysterious skater physically-wise. But, the only thing he took away from his performance on the ice was his overflowing charisma that existed when he skated, and it snatched Junhui’s breath away, leaving him completely flabbergasted. Sharp, swift, strong but was still able to maintain the melodic rhythmic movements-- it was as if he was watching a private dance of a rare, elusive elegant bird, and Junhui was the fanatical bird watcher that had stumbled upon such an intimate affair which he could not take away his eyes from. When the skater jumped, it was with so much ease that it felt so indistinct, like he was flying. What Junhui particularly admired though, was how the music and the skater danced together in unity, like they knew each other with a long arduous history. Usually, younger skaters would treat the music as some sort of foreign object that they had to only learn to understand, but never really get to know personally. They usually left it as that, which unfortunately led them to a very empty, heartless routine that just completely destroyed the artistry involved with the skate. This mystery skater, whom he yearned to know the identity of, was different._

_The way he treated Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake as if they have been deeply engaged with each other like friends that have been stuck together since the beginning, but yet a sudden disagreement had left them with disgust for each other’s presence. He could feel the inscrutable guilt and pain for what he said that he did not mean, but yet was accompanied with disdain for the other’s opinion on the issue that you could see the disgust oozing through the intensity of the footwork. Junhui was speechless. This man was able to take a piece and fully incorporate it into his very own world with such perfect detail, and it was absolutely beautiful._

_But as if being rudely awaken from his dream, the music ended abruptly. The skater must have noticed that someone was watching, and in a panicked haste left the rink. Junhui stood there with his eyes wide open and mouth ajar, looking like he was dumped by his date._

He is convinced that it was all a dream; a picturesque haze forged by his migraine. He had never seen such a skater before, especially one with such high expertise from outside the club.

But it couldn’t be, he thought to himself once more refusing to accept such a conclusion, there _has_ to be someone like that!

“Junhui! We’re going to be late for the welcoming party if you don’t hurry up!” Wonwoo shouted from the other room, as Junhui shook himself back to reality.

Maybe some other time he will know who that man is, Junhui thought as he breathed a heavy sigh, but it would be hard to find someone as dignified as that.  


* * *

Junhui was bored.

He stood at one of the bar tables, disinterested as he stared at the half-filled room. He swirled around the red wine glass in his hand, watching the red liquid dance as a way to entertain himself. Every year the club he joined, Pledis Ice Skating and Hockey Association, would host a club party for those who have newly joined them to mix around and interact with their fellow skaters or new teammates. The pub they would have it at became a familiar spot for all of them to hang out and talk after practices, and it became their third home to them. Junhui was usually a chatty one, conversing with the hockey team and some of his new juniors. 

(One time, he met six people all at once and they hit it off so well that they all became some sort of clique in the club.)

But at an unexpected turn of events, Wonwoo, who usually helped him with the oncoming avalanche of fans that he had, was swept away from his side by a bunch of juniors who were avid fans of his, that Junhui was left alone. What was even more unfortunate was that none of the current hockey team, which was the group he usually talked to, was here. Junhui was left to the mercy of the unknown. The first few people who talked to him were the ones he expected: newbies with inspirational and extremely flattering speeches about him, and how much of a great person he was. While he was quite honoured, he did feel that it was kind of repetitive because he felt like he was nothing but a statue to be admired upon. There was no genuine feeling he felt with them that he could connect to. But as if someone heard his complaints, a pair of very interesting individuals came up to him with a very interesting, out-of-this-world question.

“Junhui sunbaenim,” One of them started, in which he nearly choked his wine too upon hearing it, ”Is it true that there’s a secret book filled with the secrets and wonders of the world in the pyramid of Giza, which can help you in your skating?”

Junhui took a second to process the question. He stared at the shorter male, who had such a determined look in his eyes, which was framed perfectly with his high cheekbones and baby face, that he looked like a child who was waiting for their older brother to answer their important question. He turned to look at the other one, who was taller and had auburn hair and was trying to hide his amusement from seeing his friend act like a fool in front of someone else with a strained pursed-lip smile and crinkled eyes. Junhui had finally assessed the situation and reached an eventual conclusion.

“Yes, there absolutely is.”

The shorter, blonde, baby-faced individual shouted with glee, as his auburn friend laughs his heart out. The blonde proceeded to retaliate at his friend’s mocking laughter with something along the lines of spending too much time with someone named Dino? Whatever it was, Junhui could only say that he deeply enjoyed the show that was happening in front of him. They reminded him of his old friends back home, where they would play around before practice began. The nostalgic feeling soon subsided when the two stopped bickering.

“You two are newbies, right?” Junhui asked, outstretching his hand to shake theirs, “Welcome! As you know, I’m Wen Junhui, nice to meet you!”

The blonde male shook his hand first. “Pleasure to meet you! I’m Boo Seungkwan.”

His friend then proceeded to shake his hand vigorously. “Hello! I’m Lee Seokmin, and I’m a very big fan of your skates! You just won the world championships, right?”

Junhui gave a broad smile and nodded, proud of his achievement. “Yes, I did! Thank you for your kind words.”

Seungkwan looked at him with a glimmer of admiration in his eyes, as he blurted out, “You’re so cool hyung! I hope to be as good as you one day!”

“You know, I don’t mind helping you out with your skates if you want,” Junhui said, scribbling down his number on a napkin and gave it to the two, who were in frozen shock, “Here! Just message me, but don’t message me after three in the morning.”

The two muttered a shocked thank you. “Man, when Dino hears about this he’s going to freak out--”

“SHIT,” Seungkwan shouted in realisation, slapping his forehead, “We left Dino and Vernon alone when we left to ask Junhui-hyung the stupid question!”

Seokmin’s eyes went big like saucers as he realised the dire situation. “Let’s run!”

The two said their goodbyes hurriedly as they left, muttering about whose bright idea was it to leave their two friends alone to themselves. Junhui smiled to himself as he took a sip from his wine glass. What a wonderful pair they are, he thought to himself, they remind me of what Wonwoo, Mingyu, and I used to be.

“Junhui! There you are,” A familiar deep voice greeted him, patting his back, “I’ve been looking for you all over the place,”

“Ah, good evening Seungcheol!” He greeted back, embracing the older man, “How have you been? Where’s Jeonghan?”

“A little battered from taking care the new members but I’m fine!” Seungcheol replied, “Jeonghan’s out socialising, as per usual.”

"Shouldn't you be joining him?"

“Well, I got swamped by a bunch of newbies, and Wonwoo who usually helped was taken away by his own fans, so I haven’t really had the opportunity,” Junhui answered, then proceeding to smile as he remembered Seungkwan and Seokmin’s fiasco from earlier on, ”But there were two new junior skaters who asked me a really random question though, and it was quite funny.”

“Let me guess,” Seungcheol said, “Was it Seungkwan and-- ah, Seokmin?”

Junhui’s eyes widened in amazement, astounded by the accuracy of his guess. “How’d you know?”

Seungcheol slipped on a knowing smirk and shrugged. “They have this challenge between them on who can ask the stupidest question to random people, and I see it happening quite often since they particularly ask the hockey team while they’re waiting for their friends to finish.”

“Do they happen to be Vernon and Dino?”

“Why yes actually,” He continued, propping his arms up on the bar table, “Dino’s just a nickname though, his real name is Chan and he is amazing for someone so young.”

“Interesting!” Junhui said excitedly, “I look forward to working with them soon,”

“Ah, that reminds me,” Seungcheol said, taking out his phone and made a call. The way he told the person with such a straight face made it sound like he was their big boss (one would argue that he is the hockey team’s captain so technically he is, but still). In less than two minutes, a man who looked no younger than twenty with a tall stature, but was rather on the lankier side of the spectrum arrived. He had big curious eyes, wondering why he was called by his new captain from the other side of the pub. 

Junhui liked it.

“Junhui, this is Xu Minghao,” Seungcheol introduced, gesturing to him then Junhui, “Minghao, this is Wen Junhui, a world champion figure skater.”

“Cheol, you didn’t have to mention that!” Junhui rolled his eyes, but then quickly smiled at his new friend and extended a hand. “Hello! Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too!” Minghao greeted politely, “Sorry to ask this out of the blue, especially since we just met, but you’re from China right?”

“Yes I am,” He answered confidently, “Did Cheol tell you?”

Minghao nodded slowly with a smile. “He said it would be good for me to ask you since we come from the same country and all,”

Seungcheol muttered something about Jeonghan and left swiftly, and the two waved goodbye before returning to their conversation. There was this familiar feeling that Junhui got from Minghao, and he just couldn’t place his finger on it. There was this sense of ease that he got from him instantly, something he yearned to have for years ever since he came to South Korea, and it calmed him to know that there was someone like Minghao he could feel at ease with, other than Wonwoo. 

“Which part of China are you from?” He asked, trying to make the conversation a little less awkward, “I’m from Shenzhen.”

“I’m from Anshan, Liaoning,” Minghao answered, looking up to Junhui, who tried to give him a warm smile to make the younger male feel welcome. He knew how scary it is to be in a foreign country all on your own.

“Hmm… Do you want to speak in Mandarin instead?” Junhui inquired, trying to accommodate to the other’s weak Korean, “I noticed that you’re feeling a little strained from talking in straight Korean.”

Minghao breathed a sigh of relief, proceeding to mutter in Mandarin, “I thought you would never ask.”

Junhui chuckled at his sudden change of behaviour. Something about Minghao spoke how adorable but yet serious he could be, and he had to admit he quite liked it. It reminded him of himself from his younger days, when he used to be so tense and nervous all the time from talking in Korean because he feared making a single mistake before Wonwoo said that it was genuinely okay to make mistakes because he was just learning, and he did not really mind his stilted Korean. Minghao was cute, and Junhui liked that.

“I can see that you’re so much more yourself when you’re talking in Mandarin,” Junhui commented, placing his wine glass down, propping his arm on the bar as he looked at Minghao who nodded vigorously with confidence.

“I mean-- Korean isn’t that hard, it’s just that I’m trying to adjust and it can be quite a hassle you know? It feels nice to finally find someone, or even something familiar in a new country,”

“I do,” Junhui agreed fervently, “But honestly, don’t worry about it. If you ever need someone to help you tour around the place or just asking the general stuff, you can ask me!”

He handed his number to Minghao on a piece of tissue, like he did with Seungkwan and Seokmin. He asked himself how many times how many times he was going to give away his number today to people he barely knew.

“Oh! Thank you so much!” The younger male bowed in gratefulness.

“You’re a hockey player right?” Junhui asked, continuing the conversation, “So tell me, why did you decide to come to South Korea to play instead of staying in China?”

Minghao thought for a few seconds. He took this short amount of time to look at him. He had a very distinguishable jawline and a melon seed face that went along with his figure perfectly. To Junhui, he was absolutely ideal, by his standards at least. He tried to hide the smile that formed on his lips.

“I guess I just wanted to be in a different setting, for experience,” he said, shrugging.

“That’s very brave of you.”

”For anything new, I guess so,” Minghao replied, as his phone rang, “Ah, I have to go catch up with the rest of the others because someone got tanked?”

If it’s Seungcheol, I don’t know what to say, Junhui thought to himself, high alcohol tolerance, my ass.

“All right then, I’ll see you soon!”

As Minghao left, he was left with this soft, warm feeling in his chest, resembling something like a warm, comforting hug or a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows on a cold winter’s day, a warmth that he had not experienced in a while. It reminds him of warm soup and rice after a long day of practice from his younger days when he was still in China. Something so familiar, so precious, something that made him feel so… At home.

He felt like… Tchaikovsky’s Waltz Of Flowers. He was this soft little daisy dancing around in the summer breeze while the birds sang, enjoying the glimmering summer sun. The youthful nostalgic feeling in his heart, it brought him happiness, and it reminded him of his old ballet lessons, his old friends, and the fun he used to have. He wishes that as Minghao and him become friends, they would make more memories together. Little did he know, that something in his heart was taking root.

But for now, he was content at where he was. 

* * *

**nonu:** dude i can’t sleep  
**nonu:** i can hear your gay thinking from here  
**moonhui:** OKAY first of all,  
**moonhui:** can u come here with chamomile tea i can’t sleep and i need someone to talk to :cc  
**nonu:** okay fine

“So, what’s up?” Wonwoo greeted, plopping down on Junhui’s bed with two mugs of tea, “Did you have another scary dream?”

Junhui rolled his eyes. “Would you stop reminding me of that? It was only one time!”

“Sure,” Wonwoo mumbled, sipping his tea nonchalantly.

“Okay, fine! It was a couple of times,” Junhui said in irritation, narrowing his eyes, “But that’s beside the point!”

“I want to talk about the newbies.”

“Oh shit, yeah about that,” Wonwoo began, “I’m really sorry that I left you there, they just really reigned me in and when I turned around and tried to look for you, you were gone.”

“Oh, that? It’s fine man, it wasn’t your fault,” Junhui reassured him, “I met some interesting newbies anyway, it was quite fun.”

“Did Cheol introduce you to that new Chinese hockey player?” He asked, “He found me when he was trying to find you and told me about it.”

Junhui’s eyes began to light up with fire, as a smile graced his lips. “Yeah, I met him. He’s really cute.”

Wonwoo’s eyes curled up, as he smirked slyly. “Oh, I see what’s happening here.”

“What?” Junhui looked at him with disbelief in his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing, just make sure to invite me to the wedding when it happens,” Wonwoo said cooly, maintaining that smirk on his face, “Promise me that I’ll be your best man.”

“Wonwoo-ah, don’t jump to conclusions,” Junhui said in retaliation, “Besides, it’s not legal in either South Korea or China,”

“There’s always the States,” Wonwoo said, bringing up his legs onto Junhui’s queen-sized bed, “Maybe finally you’ll be able to make use of all the space you have on your bed for once.”

Junhui kicked the younger male from under the covers with a reddening face. “Shut up!” He hissed.

Wonwoo snickered, as he rolled his eyes at him once more. What a great best friend he is, huh? Junhui thought to himself as he sighed. They have known each other since Junhui appeared on the international stage for the first time, but only as fellow skaters. They did not get involved with each other until Junhui left for South Korea for training and for his university education. After that, they have become the best of friends, with Wonwoo acting as Junhui’s pillar of support, and he was Wonwoo’s.

“But honestly, there’s something about him that bugs me,” Junhui explained as he ran his hand through his hair, “He reminds me of that mystery skater I saw the other week,”

“Actually, I agree,” The other male stated, “His name is Xu Minghao right?”

Junhui nodded, as he continued, “That name-- especially his last name-- shares a very big similarity with a former Olympic gold medallist. A relative maybe?”

“How are you even able to retain all of this information from so long ago?” Junhui remarked, “And yet you can sometimes barely remember music cues for your skates,”

“HEY!” Wonwoo spoke back, “I’m just saying!”

“I hope Soonyoung is doing okay from picking up after you,” He commented, faking a gasp, “How horrible it must be to work with your rival!”

“Tell me about it,” Wonwoo grunted, “Whose bright IDEA was it to bring two completely opposite styles of skating together? ESPECIALLY when the two are _rivals_?”

Junhui grinned sweetly. “I wonder who! They must be having so much fun seeing you suffer.”

Wonwoo stared at Junhui. His face morphed from a sceptical, questionable look, confused with what the older male meant, to an expression full of dry rage and irritance-- one that only Junhui could provoke from Wonwoo without dying, well, most of the time anyway. He swiftly slid out of his covers, placing his mug on his bedside table, and began to run. He giggled like a teenage girl.

“WEN JUNHUI,” Wonwoo bellowed throughout the entire apartment, “YOU PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT--”

“DON’T KILL ME YET WONWOO!” The brunet pleaded mischievously, hiding from the furious Jeon Wonwoo, “DON’T YOU WANT TO BE MY BEST MAN?” 

“You’re STILL NOT GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE UNSCATHED!” He yelled, as Junhui snickered and ran, “YAH! WEN JUNHUI!”

**Author's Note:**

> i update every one to two weeks! if i'm later than usual that just means i'm busy with school  
> feel free to ask anything in the comments  
> [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/fondhaos/)  
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/fondhaohao/)


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